Education
Education is the act or process of acquiring or imparting knowledge or skills, especially at a school. It can also refer to the knowledge or skills acquired by this process, as in "level of education," or to a particular kind of instruction or training, such as "physical education." "To educate" is synonymous with "to teach." Education is the cure for ignorance. Members of an educated society are less likely to believe in myths, woo, and pseudoscience. Pearson's 'Learning Curve' Ranking The report, published by Pearson and written by the Economist Intelligence Unit, is part of a wide-ranging programme of quantitative and qualitative analysis, entitled The Learning Curve. It seeks to further our understanding of what leads to successful educational outcomes – both economic and social. The design and execution of the programme has benefited from the ongoing advice of some of the world’s leading educational scholars. According to Pearson's Learning Curve, countries with positive score are: Finland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, United States, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal and Norway. Measuring Education Those of us who would discuss education should really try to discuss not only the goals of education but methods and measures necessary to achieve those goals. Is our goal is to try to maximize the education of young people? Is our goal to ensure a basic education to all young people? Is our goal efficiency; do we want to maximize the results for a given expenditure or resources? Just what is it we're trying to do? What do we think is best for our children and our society? Are we trying to teach facts and performance of tasks, or are we trying to teach an understanding of underlying concepts and ability to learn? Should we be measuring total amount learned as a measure of educational success, or should we be measuring the marginal rate of learning? We know that people are all not the same. We can observe physical and mental differences. We know that people develop at differing rates both physically and mentally. We know that people differ in their desire to conform to group behavior or to stand out. We use standardized testing to measure what has been learned, but do those tests tell us either the rate of learning or the capacity for total learning? Does standardized testing aid in understanding progress to educational goals? Should all teachers be evaluated based on standardized testing, or are the challenges of teaching certain students or groups of students ignored by standardized testing? Should we be focusing on where a student or a group of students are in comparison to the standardized norm, or should we be focusing instead on the rate at which they are either falling behind or catching up? In other words, to what degree can, or should education be specific to the needs of an individual student or group of students. Are impediments to the success of education social, cultural, physical, or psychological, and to what degree is it to our benefit to understand these things and adapt our methods to achieve our goals? Blue in the Red Zone wrote this. Types of education Science More than merely relating facts about science, good science education teaches students the proper way to "do" science and additionally promotes scientific literacy. Scientific literacy and critical thinking skills are essential for living and competing in a technological world. Organizations such as the National Center for Science Education and the British Centre for Science Education provide resources to help teachers of science improve their instruction. Christian fundamentalists, in an effort to advance their form of religion, have historically attempted to get their own version of "origins theory" into science classes under the guises of creation science and intelligent design. Although these worldviews sound like science, they are not, and pressuring teachers into presenting them as such is not conducive to students' understanding of science. Numerous position statements from science organizations as well as court decisions confirm this conclusion. Sex Sex education usually refers to the teaching of children about human sexuality at school. This can take the form of abstinence programs, or it can actually be helpful. Institutions of education Family Education for young children begins at home, primarily from their parents. This is an important place to learn language and morality. Although parents continue to provide some aspects of their education, most children in industrialized nations subsequently enter a form of mass education outside of the home. Public schools Similar to state schools or government schools in other places, United States public schools are compulsory and free to consumers, being funded and directed at the federal, state, and local levels. Local school boards have some latitude regarding curriculum, and they, along with state boards and legislatures, are common places for fundamentalists to present their anti-evolution case. Public school teachers, also known as educators, are state-credentialed professionals. Please note that in some parts of the world public school means private school. Homeschools An alternative to public education or private schools, homeschooling offers parents a sizable degree of control over what their children learn. Educating is done by tutors or by the parents themselves. An Internet search revealed numerous websites offering resources for parents considering this approach to education. Higher education Higher education refers to study after the high school (secondary) level. The term is usually identified with colleges, universities, institutes of technology, professional schools, and graduate schools but can include vocational schools, teacher-training schools, community colleges, academies, and seminaries. Generally, a degree, diploma, or certificate is awarded at the end of a course of study. Colleges and universities may be state-controlled or private. The latter in the United States at least are often run by religious groups, and there are many fine? Christian fundamentalist colleges in the United States include Liberty University, Pensacola Christian College, and Bob Jones University. Professors at accredited colleges and universities are expected to have attained a doctorate degree or at least a master's. A diploma mill is a college at which one can obtain an unrecognized degree with little effort for the purposes of flaunting it. Patriot Bible University and Universal Life Church are examples of such institutions. Self Self-education, or autodidacticism, provides a nearly limitless source of knowledge during ones formal education and after one's official schooling has ceased. Liberapedia tries to help readers self educate. In order to self educate one must learn how to learn rather than how to merely be taught. Liberapedia primarily provides information, readers need to look elsewhere to find out how to learn. It is possible to find material for self-education on television, in libraries, and on the Internet. See also *How to write an essay External links * "National Science Education Standards." The National Academies Press. 1996. 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